Of their sole ‘purchase’ Mashrafe Mortaza, Khan says, ‘‘KKR were eyeing Duminy but when we saw Nita Ambani wanted him, we decided to let go. We lost Umar Gul and needed an all-rounder to replace him, so we decided on Mortaza.’’

How big a setback is Shoaib Akhtar’s exit? ‘‘Umar Gul was a bigger setback. I hear Shoaib’s going in for knee surgery so we wouldn’t have got him in the best of health. I wish he were fitter last year too,’’ says Khan.

The Knight Riders sold the maximum merchandise last year. Will we see a repeat this season? ‘‘I have plans but we may not have the budget to go all out this year. Depends on the sponsors we get. We earned 4 crore last year. Frankly, as investors, we were all prepared to lose money in the first two years.’’

Khan is sentimental about his team and his state. ‘‘Wish I could make Eden Gardens the world’s greatest stadium. In spirit and heart, I feel the whole of Kolkata and Bangladesh belongs to us.

"I think we have the best cricketing state in the country. Also a great mix of players which includes New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and now Bangladesh as well.’’